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DIAMOND PASTE As with buffing compound, this is a final honing step only. Woodworkers advocate a number of substrates for diamond paste, so Fraser photographed and tested blades sharpened with paste on MDF, hard maple and a steel plate marketed for this purpose. Maple was the winner, with the steel plate producing the roughest results. MDF was hardest to use. DIAMOND PASTE ON HARD MAPLE Finest grit: 0.5 micron Source: Beta Diamond Products (800-975-9009) Price: $30 (sold only as a set of various grits) Use: Maple must be flat; use only one grit per wood block; isolate blocks and grits in plastic bags Using diamond paste Excellent Excellent Smoothest edge in microphotographs; left the glassiest surface on wood with the least effort but was fussy to use; great final step after any other abrasive A dab will do. Apply the light minerai oi/ lubricant (above) and lay down diamond paste on only a small area of the substrate (right). Spread it out with your fingertip. the ins and outs of each method. When the first set came back from the lab, I touched up each edge and then ran some controlled planing tests. The first was to plane quartersawn, straight -grained hard maple. I used a digital caliper on the shavings to set the cutting depth at 0.0015 in. Next, I planed a board of tiger maple, taking care not to skew the plane. Then I moved on to some end-grain cherry. I ran the series of tests twice on each blade, checking my results and sometimes comparing two irons one after another to clarify subtle differences. Polish to a mirror surface. Diamond paste is a great final step, no matter what honing system you favor. 40 FINE WOODWOR KIN G How the honing systems stack up Though it's not the most sensational story ever, the truth is that for general woodworking-where you use planes and chisels for jointing edges for glue-ups, leveling and aligning subassemblies and paring and Diamond paste on hard maple Very good fitting joints in even-grained woods-every sharpening method is adequate if applied correctly. You'll get good results, especially if you're used to sanding your work before finishing it. If you're not getting perfect shavings with any of these abrasives, look at your sharpening technique (see the top story on the facing page). For general work, as described above, wet-or-dry sandpaper on glass is the best value. It's fast, easy and inexpensive, at least in the short term. Diamond stones also produce a good edge just as quickly, tllough tlley are more costly. On the other hand, one set should last most of your woodworking life. A side benefit is that both sandpaper and diamond stones can be used to flatten other stones. While the Tormek grinding and honing system left rougher results than some Otllers, many woodworkers use tlle wet, slowspeed grinding wheel, with its many handy jigs, as a first step before switching to other honing systems. For those who sharpen planes and chisels a lot or work with dense or highly fig